1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to construction tools, and more particularly relates to a jig for installing properly dimensioned doorframes and for maintaining the integrity of a doorframe during construction of fixtures proximate to the doorframe.
2. Description of the Related Art
Doorframes and door jambs are well-known in the art. Typically, in most residential and commercial settings, doorframes, for mounting hinged doors, comprise wooden frames or hollow metal frames including the following principal components: a head jamb (constituting a horizontal member above the recess and below the lintel); jambs (constituting vertical members laterally defining the recess meant to house the door), and a sill (constituting a horizontal member below the recess designed to house the door). The head jamb, jambs, and sill may rest on or above concrete, metal, and/or wood structural components of a wall, building, bulkhead, etc.
Typically, in residential and commercial construction projects, doorframes are created with stamped light gauge metal components of various widths (or other wooden components well known to those of skill in the art) during the framing phase in construction, which precedes the finishing phase. The wooden components are affixed together using nails, screws, gusset plates 111, and the like, while the metal components may be welded, screwed or bolted.
While construction workers are careful during framing to define door recesses of exact dimensions called for by plans, blue prints, and the like, the framing is never completely rigid or stable until construction is finished. As the framing phase progresses, some framing components are strained through tensile and/or compressive forces, which often alter the dimensions of, squareness, and/or parallelism of, the jambs or other components in the walls including the doorframe.
The doorframe installation process can be tedious. Components must be precisely measured and assembled, and there exists no efficient guides in the art for use in installing doorframes.
Even when the finishing phase is in progress, drywall (i.e. gypsum board) being affixed to the framing components can strain framing and alter the dimensions of the doorframe, ultimately warping the doorframe such that doors created to standard or specified dimensions do not fit in the doorframe after finishing, or align properly with the frame. Doors installed in misformed frames may have non-uniform spacing between the door and the jambs. A properly installed door should touch the frame uniformly across the side of the door comprises the latch.
Current methods and apparatii do not readily facilitate a quick method for properly securing, stabilizing and readying a doorframe for installation. It is therefore desirable that a portable, stable tool be provided which can be used by construction crews to install a doorframe, and which can secure and stabilize a doorframe after its components are affixed together such that the doorframe remains properly in position during subsequently construction.